I Come To The Garden Alone
by RapunzelK
Summary: A quick look into how at least one person relates to a summon guardian.


I Come to the Garden Alone

It was arguable as to how seriously most of the planets inhabitants took the pantheon of greater beings that breeched the space between human and Creator. Most simply exclaimed "Gods!" upon sudden injury or injustice with little or no consideration for the meaning of the word. The gods were there and they were listening. The trouble was, very few bothered to listen to them. Only those in possession of crystallized Materia forged any communication with them and even then it was only the rude plea of "come, help". They were no more alive or important than the little stone that enabled a human to summon them.

_Sad…_Vincent thought, considering the phenomenon. _It truly is a pity people don't bother to learn. But then I suppose it's difficult in a big city._

Vincent looked up at the wide spreading branches arcing impossibly high above even his lanky height, the sunlight dappling through the leaves making the canopy glow with warm green light. He continued to wander down the unseen trail. The trees were becoming thick and the space between them thin, yet they did not bar him from passing. Vincent's narrow body easily slipped between the brickled trunks made dark with lichen and forest gloom. It was dim here among the woodland giants. It was not because of these giants, however, that he had come here. Elbowing around a gruff old trunk that was too wide for his arms to reach even half way around, Vincent stepped into a space lit gently by the green light of sun diffused by countless layers of leaves overhead. A distance of perhaps thirty paces lay green and low separating the crowded wood and the lone tree that stood in the center of the sunlight circle. This was no slender queenly birch or stately oak but a massive, mossy, gnarled titan of a tree. Its trunk was so wide that five men standing fingertip-to-fingertip could not have stretched their arms around its girth. At a height just barely out of Vincent's reach the mammoth trunk split into three slightly thinner arms forming a mossy back and arm rests, creating a sort of natural seat. Those three arms continued up to soar high above every other tree in the forest, limbs stretching out into the branches of its lesser fellows. Spanish moss dripped from it's many knuckles and elbows the way silken scarves draped from a lady's shoulders. It's sheer height made one dizzy to look up at it. There were not steps enough to back up in order to view the whole massive tower of leaves and cork. Vincent craned his neck now, looking almost directly up into the sunlit branches and still not seeing the top. Often he had been tempted to climb up and into the thick and muscled branches, but such a thing had stuck him as somewhere between childish and sacrilegious. This was Titan's Throne and he wasn't sure how the Grandfather of the forest would take a half-grown human climbing all over it. Smiling at his own foolishness Vincent instead stepped forward and knelt, the knees of his jeans absorbing the dampness of the mossy grass. Placing the palms of his hands upon the ground, Vincent bowed low until his forehead brushed the earth. The moss felt cool and soft beneath his fingers and Vincent smiled. This was not an audience with a terse deity easily upset by every little thing. This was a visit to a member of the family, one he loved very much. Vincent knew as much as any child raised in Gongaga about the rest of the pantheon, but he did not know them the way he knew Old Titan. He felt rather than heard the silent thunder of colossal bare feet striding through the forest, the literal sighs and whispers of the wood and not the whistle of wind or the rustle of leaves as its master passed by. The grass ruffled and seemed to bow as one mammoth knee pressed into the moss.

**_Welcome young one._ **

_Greetings, Grandfather._

Vincent lifted his head and sat back on his knees, smiling up at the forest guardian. Titan's name suited him. The wood giant did not stand quite as tall as his sacred tree, perhaps the height of five Vincent's standing on each other's shoulders. He wore neither shoes nor shirt nor trousers only an unadorned skin draped modestly around his middle, his dark skin mirroring the shadows of terracotta, ochre, and umber layers of the earth. Thick bronze bangles circled his ankles and wrists. Around his neck hung half a dozen strings of beads and shells, over which flowed a smooth white beard. Little braids and beads swayed pleasantly within his beard as Titan rumbled a deep bass chuckle that echoed from the very boulders of the earth. Long white hair swept back from thick brows over his shoulders and down towards his waist where it was caught in bent bronze clasp. The giant's weathered face crinkled into a kind smile, Vincent could not help the twinge of sudden sadness in his heart. He would miss this dreadfully.

_**What have you come to tell me?** _Titan rumbled. Vincent contemplated his lap briefly, suddenly wondering if this decision was wise or not. Lifting his eyes again, he made his answer as best he could.

_I am leaving, Grandfather… I am going across the sea to Midgar to study._

The giant's heavy brows rose slightly in surprise but he nodded slowly.

**_There is nothing more precious than wisdom. _He agreed. _Be careful what you learn in the cities across the sea. Reason is not the final answer to all things._**

Vincent nodded humbly. _I will not forget you, Grandfather._

Titan smiled sadly. **_I know you will not. You have thought long about this, then? Your choice is made?_**

_It is._ Vincent nodded. _…do you approve?_

**_It is your decision. I will not choose for you._** The Giant smiled.

_But I wouldn't want to do something that you would disapprove of._

Another boulder-rumbling chuckle.

**_If my opinion means that much to you, then yes, I approve. Go and seek knowledge. But be careful to always remember what you have left here._**

_I could never forget._

_**I know you won't.**_

Vincent contemplated the ground. _I will miss you…_

_**Grandson…**_

Vincent felt the weight of a massive hand resting on his shoulder. Looking up, he met Titan's earthen gaze. The guardian, now only slightly larger than life-size though no less powerful, knelt before Vincent on one knee. Placing his free hand on Vincent's other shoulder, he spoke.

**_I shall miss you as well._**

Vincent nodded, swallowing hard on the sudden lump in his throat.

Smiling gently, Titan drew him close. Vincent returned the fatherly embrace, all but swallowed up in the forest guardian's thickly muscled arms.

_**Do not be grieved. I shall always be here if you need me.**_

_Thank you…_


End file.
